Video Premiere: Arum Rae - "Gold"

When Arum Rae released her Warranted Queen EP back in April, there wasn’t much indication that she had a moody, bluesy darkness lurking beneath the surface. The EP favored more of a glistening, electro-pop sound with an upbeat undercurrent. Much of the EP was influenced by her collaboration with producer Sanford Livingston, who brought a synthy brightness into incredible contrast with her earthy voice. When the video for her stand-alone single “Gold” surfaced, it was clear that she was tipping her hand to reveal that the earlier grittiness of her sound wasn’t gone forever.

The video itself is gritty, black-and-white affair that flashes between forest silhouettes, big skies and a lone, roaming wolf. Anyone who is familiar with Rae’s previous work as White Dress though won’t be too surprised by the precise and powerful guitar work on the track. Still, “Gold” channels an old world loneliness and the visceral wildness of predator and prey. “I’m the sky that sees you wandering / around your deserted throne,” she sings at one point, taking things to an eerie medieval place.

The track is bare, just Rae’s voice and an electric guitar, but it builds to a blistering climax and then slowly fades out, trickling down into silence. Watch the official video for “Gold” in the player above, and look for “Gold” to be released as a single soon. Rae currently writing and recording a full-length expected for release this fall.